EILÍS BARRETT IS 16 YEARS OLD AND HAILS FROM GALWAY, WHERE SHE SHARES A HOME WITH HER MOTHER, THREE BROTHERS AND HER DOG, ROSIE.

Eilís and her brothers are home-schooled by their mum, Bernadette, who is devoted to her kids finding their passion in life. From a young age, Eilís had a lot of freedom regarding how she spent her time and was encouraged to do what she was good at.

At the age of three she discovered that she loved baking with her mum in the kitchen, astounding neighbours and visitors with her homemade bread and other creations. It was also at the age of three that Eilís helped her mum and her mum’s midwife to deliver her younger brother, and insisted on doing her own washing!

With an insatiable imagination, Eilís watched countless nature documentaries, taught herself to play the piano and devised complicated imaginary games that could go on for weeks. But there was one place where she knew she truly belonged … between the pages of a book. And it wasn’t long before her own stories made it onto paper, too.

At the age of 12, Eilís decided that she was going to take writing seriously. Within two years she had written two full-length novels, one of which was called Oasis, and was inspired by all that comes with being a teenager:

‘It’s not an uncommon thing for teens to hit a stage in their lives where their priorities change, and they have to learn how to cope with a vastly different set of problems than they’re used to.The things Quincy has to deal with (internally at least) aren’t much different to what I faced myself.’

At the age of 15, Eilís signed a two-book deal with Gill Books. She has since spoken at Eason’s inaugural Irish YA convention and was honoured by Irish Tatler as a Future Maker, one of the young women they believe have the brilliance to shape the next era.

Eilís’ debut YA novel, Oasis, was published in March 2016. The as of now untitled sequel to Oasis will be out in 2017, and after that … who knows!

‘Whenever people ask me where I want to be in five or ten years, I always say that I really hope it’s something that I can’t even imagine right now. Two years ago I never thought I’d be a teen author, and now I really hope in another two years I’m somewhere just as exciting and unexpected.’